Ballast Adding water ballast vs. leaky hose adapter

[Pks]

Has anyone had good experience with garden hose adapters made for adding water to tractor tires?

I got one at TSC and the thing leaked like a screen door on a submarine! I had plans to use it for adding anti-freeze to the ballast water, but after watching it leak (while installing the ballast water) I'm having second thoughts.

Peter

 

[scotd1]

I have used one several times with good results. There is a little air bleed valve on the side that should close by itself, check that, otherwise it hooks up to your garden hose on one end and to your tire valve on the other. There are a couple of adapters enclosed with this valve, make sure you are using the correct one(s) (for different threads) and of course make sure the core has been removed from the tire valve. That's all I can think of off hand, should work.

 

[MarkV]

Peter,
Sounds like you may have gotten a bad one. The one I bought from a local dealer ($16.00) worked O.K. What I used to add anti-freeze is one of those hook to your drill chuck pumps ($9.00), cheap, but it worked fine for that job. The environmentally friendly anti-freeze may save a pet or some grass.

MarkV

 

[Pks]

When I used mine, it leaked at the seams. Specifically, the seems that allowed the section, which screws onto the valve, to swivel/rotate.

The push-button air bleed valve, I later figured out, just needed to be tightened.

Peter

 

[scotd1]

You might have to take some pliers and tighten the joints up, sometimes the plating clogs the threads and won't let them tighten up and seal, They are not really precision made, are they? But that's about all there is to it, configure it to fit your hose & tire valve, hook it up just tight enough to not leak and fill it up. If you are filling the tire on the tractor (which you should be, if you lay it on the ground and fill it up it is a back breaker to mount onto the tractor) position the wheel so that the tire valve is on top (12 o'clock position). I used a small pump (the drill pump is a good/cheap idea if you don't have a pump already)to get a few gallons of antifreeze in and then hooked up the garden hose.You will need to stop every so often and let the air out, just listen and you can hear the water slowing down as the air pressure increases. I found it easier & faster to turn off the water and remove the hose rather than stand there and hold the little button in for 10 minutes at a time. Do not fill the tire with fluid 100% as this will not let the tire absorb shock properly. Fill the tire only about 80-90% full.
Are you having fun yet?

 

[MarkV]

Scotd1,
Thats pretty much the same way I did mine. In my case I had been told not to fill past 75% so I placed the valve between the 1 and 2 o'clock position. When you get water rather than air from the bleed valve, you are full.

MarkV

 

[Pks]

Thanks for the feedback. It took about 40 minutes for the first tire and 25 for the second one. That's a nice increase in efficiency.

Thanks again.

Peter

 

[scotd1]

You may be right about the 75%, it's been awhile but I do remember that you don't fill the tire all the way up.

 

[GlueGuy]

My manual describes quite clearly why 75% is the maximum. Water is not compressible, so hitting rocks & such would probably burst a tire. Need the air to leave some flex in the tire.

The GlueGuy

 

[Pks]

My manual is in agreement with GlueGuy's manual.